KABUL – Taliban-led administration in war-torn Afghanistan has inked anagreement allowing an Emirati company to manage three airports.
According to the state news agency of the Afghan government, the officialsfrom the two sides signed a fresh 18-month contract to share responsibilityfor operating three airports in Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat.
Deputy prime minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar attended a ceremonyalongside Afghan and United Arab Emirates officials.
Taliban co-founder said Kabul wanted good relations with all nations,saying Afghanistan has been affected by wars and now we are rebuilding it.
Mullah Baradar also appealed to global firms to invest in Afghanistan asthe Taliban government will provide all facilities and security to them. Hementioned that all airlines will return to Afghanistan in peace and thelevel of trade will increase with the agreement.
Hameedullah Akhundzada, minister of transport and civil aviation saidAfghan administration, also attended the ceremony. The firm is AbuDhabi-based firm GAAC Solutions – which operated in Afghanistan previously.
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Addressing a press conference, the Taliban administration said the newcontract was inked for managing ground handling services. The same firm hasprovided these services at Kabul airport since November 2020.
Taliban official mentioned that the move will give confidence tointernational flag carriers to resume flight operations to the landlockedcountry, however, he did not specify the time when such flights wereexpected to start.
The agreement comes after the months-long scramble for influence inAfghanistan between the UAE, Turkey, and Qatar.
